Ezekiel 7:12 - Homiletics.

Buyer and seller.

I. RELIGION HAS A RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED WITH COMMERCE . Religion is spiritual, but it aims at filling the secular sphere, as the soul fills the body. The Church may be its centre, as the brain is the centre of the soul's consciousness; but every region of life is a scene for its operation, as every limb of the body is for the action of the soul. Religion claims a place in the shop, in the factory, in the mine, on the highway of the sea, in the noisy streets and markets of the city. She does not claim this place as a mere spectator or guest, to be respected in name, but not followed with obedience, like the statue of a deceased citizen set up in a public place to honour his memory, although his principles are derided and travestied by the throng of present day men who crowd about it. Religion claims to be a living presence, guiding and controlling commerce. The relations of buyer and seller are too often treated on the ground of pure self-interest—self-interest of the lowest kind, mere money profit. Religion should inspire higher motives.

1 . A respect for truth and justice. A Christian merchant's word should be as good as his bond in his counting house as well as in his home. It is scandalous that "trust" can only go with "security." Christian honour should pay the debt that cannot be exacted by law. The bankrupt who listens to the teachings of Christ will not be content to scrape through the courts by the aid of technicalities which only enable him to cheat his creditors. The Christian seller will not deceive the buyer, nor the Christian buyer take advantage of the difficulties of the seller to drive an unfair bargain. Justice means more than keeping the law—it means fair dealing and equal treatment.

2 . A recognition of human brotherhood. If I recognize my neighbour as a brother when at church, can I pounce upon him as my prey in the world? The "golden rule" belongs to commerce as much as to any other part of life. But it will not be effective till a spirit of cooperation takes the place of one of cruel, hard, selfish competition.

3 . A reverence for the rights of God in the fruits of commerce. Over the Royal Exchange, in London, there runs, in great and bold letters, the legend, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." How far is that the text of the words and deeds of the men who throng the streets round this public building? If all in the earth belongs to God, we shall have to give him an account of our trade transactions.

II. COMMERCE WITHOUT RELIGION WILL NOT SECURE THE WELFARE OF A PEOPLE . People who prefer Mammon to God will find they have chosen a hard master.

1 . When commerce is prosperous, it will not satisfy the greatest needs of men. Man does not live by bread alone, and certainly he cannot subsist on bankers' accounts. In Jerusalem the buyer and seller would cease to rejoice over their bargains, would even not care for loss or gain, glad if only they escaped with their lives. The best things cannot be bought with money; but, happily, they can be had "without money and without price."

2 . When national calamity comes, commerce fails. The commercial barometer is a most sensitive test of approaching political storms. Wickedness in business is deservedly punished in the general calamity of a nation by the collapse of trade that is certain to be one of the first results of the adversity.

3 . Commercial sin will be justly punished with commercial ruin. This does not necessarily happen to the individual trader who may die rich with ill-gotten gains; but history proves it to be true in the long run with nations.